The Second Sorceress War
by Solid Shark
Summary: A Final Fantasy 8/ The Legend of Dragoon crossover. Rated PG13 for violence.
1. Chapter 1: Return to Garden

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or any of the characters except James Hunter

I arrived back at Balamb Garden for the first time in years with sense of profound relief. Traveling the world can be an exhausting experience. The first thing that I saw was a training duel just outside, between a couple of students that looked familiar, but I couldn't place them. No surprise. My last mission, to protect a VIP, had had me away from Garden for several years, so all of the students I remembered would look rather older than when I had last seen them. Then I nearly had heart failure. What is the president doing here!? Oh, wait a minute, that's not him. Looks like him, though. Wonder if they're related.

As I watched, the one in black attacked his opponent with a flurry of gunblade strikes, which were blocked by his opponent's gunblade. I abruptly recognized them, since there were only two students at Garden that used gunblades. The one with the pistol-like Hyperion model was clearly Seifer Almasy, and the one with the rifle-like Revolver model had to be Squall Leonhart, possibly THE most antisocial student at Garden, even more so than myself. This was saying something, since I was know for being taciturn, antisocial, and easily angered. People generally preferred to stay out of my way.

While I looked on, Seifer drove Squall back, and Squall backed of, took a moment to catch his breath, then charged. At that moment, I spotted a glow forming in Seifer's hand. What does he think he's doing? He knows as well as anyone that magic is forbidden for this kind of training fight!

He cast the fire spell, knocking Squall backwards, then raised his gunblade, reaching for the trigger...

And slashed it down, cutting across Squall's face. Squall retaliated, sweeping his gunblade up in a mirroring slash across Seifer's face, before dropping unconscious.

"Medic!" I shouted. "Somebody get these two to the infirmary, ASAP! Seifer, you idiot, you know you're gonna get a reprimand for this one. Sheesh, I've been back thirty seconds, after a mission that took three years, and the first thing that happens is another episode of the Squall-Seifer rivalry. Grow up, will ya, Seifer? The world does not depend on you trying to kill Squall at every opportunity, okay? Now get your face patched up. I have better things to do than referee a fight between you two." I stalked toward Garden, leaving the two combatants behind. Before entering, however, I paused and faced the two. "Oh yeah. The name's Hunter, in case you don't remember me." With that, I shouldered my laser rifle and walked into Garden.

Author's note: Please read and review. Input is welcome


	2. Dollet Assault and SeeD Inauguration

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or any of the characters except James Hunter

When I entered Garden, I headed straight for the Infirmary to see how the two duelists were doing. I spoke with Dr. Kadowaki, who said that they should be fine.

"It'll probably leave a scar, but nothing worse than that," she said.

"Good. I'd have a talk with those two, but it wouldn't do any good. They're always at each other's throats. Never did figure out why. Well, I'm off to check in with Headmaster Cid. Mission accomplished and all that. See you later." I left the Infirmary and went to make my report to the Headmaster.

Later that day, I reported to the Lobby for the primary briefing for a mission that also happened to be a final exam for the senior students, Squall and Seifer among them. I didn't hold out too much hope for Seifer, since he had already failed the exam on two separate occasions. He had a chronic problem with obeying orders, I had heard. Fortunately, I wouldn't be dealing with him during this exam. He was leading Squad B, and I was heading the Intelligence Squad.

The Headmaster began speaking. "This is a priority mission. Seventy-two hours ago, the Dollet Dukedom was invaded by the Galbadian Army. Our mission is to clear the Galbadians out. Remember that a withdraw order takes absolute precedence over everything else. For those of you who are in this attack for your field exam, good luck, obey your superiors, and uphold Garden's reputation. Move out. That is all." We headed for the Garden cars that would bring us to Balamb, where we would sail to Dollet from.

Once my Squad was assembled aboard the transport, I stood to make a detailed briefing for our specific role in the mission. "All right. Our mission is to scout out the area initially and provide intell for the other teams. You will not, repeat _not_, go beyond these parameters. Clear?"

A chorus of "Aye aye, sir."

"Good. Selphie," referring to one Selphie Tilmitt, an energetic seventeen-year-old girl who had just transferred from Trabia in the north, "you and I will be the send the withdraw order to the other Squads. Now, I think Squad B is going to be the toughest, because Seifer has a tendency to take his squad away from its assigned position. Way away. That's one reason I'm going with you. The rest of you, gather intell, then stay put. When the recall comes through, return to the transport. Selphie and I will be along shortly. Understood?"

"Affirmative, sir."

"Alright. I'm going topside to take a look around." I climbed the ladder to upper hatch and watched as the ships hit the beach. One of them must of had a hot dog at helm, because instead of avoiding a wall like the others, it crashed right through and over it. "Show-off," I muttered. Then it was our turn. "Come on, move out!"

We hit the beach and quickly headed for our assigned position. I pulled my rifle off my shoulder and climbed a building, searching for a good spot from which to snipe the enemy. I settled into a prone position and aimed at an enemy soldier. I breathed in, let it out, and squeezed the trigger. There was a flash of coherent light, and my target dropped dead, headless. This dissuaded other Galbadians from attacking, so I rejoined my squad.

"Okay, people, the enemy has been driven back to the hills. Now we wait for recall." One of the scouts dropped off a light post.

"Sir, there's no sign of Squad B. They've left the Central Square."

"This is news? Well, nothing we can do about it now. We'll find him when we have to." I listened to my headset. "Speak of the devil. They just ordered us to withdraw. Selphie, come with me. The rest of you, return to the ship." We picked up our gear and took off after Squad B. "Nida was right. No sign of them. What do you think, Selphie?"

"Bodies lead that way, Sir." she said. "Up to the Comm Tower."

"That's what I thought. Well, no helping it. Let's go."

Just past some wounded Dollet soldiers, we found a dead monster known as an Anacondaur. "Dead." I said. "Looks like Seifer's Fire Cross attack. They've been through here, all right. Let's keep going." We hurried up to a cliff overlooking the Tower, and discovered most of Squad B.

"There you are!" Selphie shouted. Then promptly tumbled down the hill. "Where's the Squad leader?"

Squall pointed. At the Comm Tower, of course.

She sighed. "This job sure is tough." She leapt off the cliff.

I shook my head. "Always hyper. Come on, Squall. But let's go around. A SeeD must have _some_ dignity and judgment, after all."

We came to the base of the tower just as the door opened. Three soldiers ran out, screaming. Followed, of course, by Seifer.

"Cowards." he said, and went back into the tower.

"Heyyyyy, Captain!"

"Come on, let's go." Squall said. We entered the tower and took an elevator.

"This is cool!" Selphie said.

"Don't get too excited, or you'll fall." Surprising, coming from Zell Dincht, the other member of the squad.

"Like I'm really going to..."

When we got to the top, we found a Galbadian officer working on the tower.

"What do you think you're doing?" Squall asked.

The Galbadian was startled. "Likewise, MISTER. Wedge, take care of these twerps!" I looked around puzzled. I didn't see anyone. "W-Wedge? Well, I seem to be done here, so... I'm leaving! MOVE! MOVE IT!"

Just then, Seifer showed up, and knocked some kind of control device out of the officer's hand. "Sorry to crash the party."

"Are you CRAZY!?" The officer attacked, firing some kind of machine gun at us. I dodged out of the way, drew a semiautomatic pistol from my belt, and began firing back.

I stifled a yelp as a bullet struck me in the chest. If it weren't for the fact that my heart was in a slightly different position from normal, the hit would have been fatal. As it was, I was knocked briefly out of the fight. By the time I returned to the battle, the soldier that the officer had been referring to had appeared.

"Wedge! Where were you? No pay for you this month!"

"Should've stayed home." He charged me, knocking my laser rifle out my hand with his sword and driving me to the metal floor.

As I lay stunned, I watched as Zell hit Biggs with a devastating hand-to-hand combo while Selphie wrapped her nunchaku around his legs and pulled him down. Off to the side, Squall was engaged in a sword battle with Wedge.

I staggered back to my feet, picking up my rifle, just in time to be filled full of holes by Biggs, who was recovering from being pummeled by metal gloves.

I dropped back to the ground in agony, barely keeping hold of my rifle.

And that's when the Elvoret popped in, blowing the Galbadians out the way with a blast of wind magic. It also blew Squall, Zell, and Selphie against the comm tower, were they fell, dazed. As the thing moved in for the kill, I slowly pushed myself to my feet again.

"Not… yet,… you… piece… of… slime…" I raised my rifle, preparing for my Limit Break. "Omega Shot!" The devastating beam burned through the Elvoret. Just before it died, I drew the Guardian Force Siren from it, the cast Curaga on the entire group.

"Yuck," Selphie commented, seeing the remains of the Elvoret as she staggered upright. "Squad B Captain?" Seifer turned to her. "We have a message, sir. All troops are to withdraw by 1900 hours. Assemble at the shore!"

"1900 hours... That's only thirty minutes! Squad B, head for the shore. Thirty minutes till we leave without you." Laughing, he took the elevator down.

"What's with him?" she asked.

"Why don't you ask him?" Squall responded.

When the elevator came back up, we took it down to the ground level. We faced a problem when we got out, however: a large, four-legged attack robot. "This isn't good!" I yelled. "That's a RoboSharp model attack bot! Run!" We ran, but it landed right in front of us. "Typical," I said, disgusted. "Eat this! _Omega Shot!"_ My laser rifle started charging to power setting not normally available, then discharged, hitting the RoboSharp with an enormous energy blast.

"Let's get out of here!" Zell shouted. No argument there, I thought. When we rounded a corner, however, the thing was back, coming up behind us. "What the? I thought we busted that thing up!"

"Forget it," Squall said, "Let's run!" We ran. When we got back to the cliff, we just missed having it land on us. We managed to avoid one encounter with it by moving quietly down the path, but it faced us again on a bridge.

"Renzokuken!" Squall tore into it with his limit break, finishing with a shout of "Rough Divide!" The finisher dropped it in the dust, giving us a chance to escape.

We charged through the town, racing for the ships that would get us away from this thing. We hit the beach and leapt over a railing to get to the transport. Zell, Selphie, and I made it alright, but Squall hit hard, landing on his back.

"Squall!" I yelled. He jumped to his feet and started running, but the robot was too fast. At the last moment, he jumped forward...

And the RoboSharp was hit with a storm of bullets from the transport. Instructor Quistis Trepe had seen the danger and manned the turret. Squall climbed into the ship just the RoboSharp gave an electronic death cry and slumped to the ground, thoroughly smashed. We headed back to Balamb, our mission complete.

When we returned, the other members of the Disciplinary Committee, Raijin and Fujin. "How'd it go?" Raijin asked.

"Man... all they did was get in way. Being a captain ain't easy."

"SAFE?" Fujin was a woman of few words, but forceful ones. Seifer looked to the sky in exasperation. The three headed for the Garden car.

"Typical." I said. The instructor disembarked last.

"Where's Seifer?" she asked. Squall pointed. She shook her head. "Good work. Be back at Garden by sundown. You're free till then."

We headed after Seifer to the car, but when we got there, they were just leaving in it.

"Not AGAIN, man." Zell sighed.

"Might as well walk it," Squall said.

"No need. I have enough Gil to rent a car. Personally, I'm headed straight back to Garden. I'm bushed." I rented the car and we drove back to Garden.

"I'll see you later. Probably at the party." I strode off muttering. "Parties. I hate parties." I headed back to my dorm room to relax. No need to change, since I was already a full SeeD. I planned to make a perfunctory appearance at the party and then leave. I hate parties. I hung up my weapon and catnapped until it was time for the dance. If there's anything I hated more than parties it was dancing. Fortunately, I only had to be there briefly, so there was little chance I'd be shanghaied into such a thing.

At the dance, I simply leaned against a wall and sipped at a glass of wine, observing everything through narrowed eyes. I preferred to observe things from the outside, which was one reason I became a sniper. I was mildly amused when Squall was dragged onto the dance floor by some non-SeeD girl, apparently a visitor.

"Typical." I muttered. "Entirely typical. Trust Squall to get into strange situations." I sauntered casually over to a window, checked to see that no one was watching, and flipped over the window sill, and rappelled down to the ground. I'd heard that there was a mission the next day, so I wanted plenty of sleep.

Just as I entered my room, however, I saw Squall leaving his. This was unusual, since Squall had never, to my knowledge, broken curfew. On a whim, I decided to follow him, quietly, to see what was up. I brought my rifle, because I thought he might be heading for the training center, which had live monsters. You make a mistake, you die.

It turned out to be a good thing that I brought my weapon, because he was indeed heading for the training center. When I got there, I saw him meet up with Instructor Trepe. ? I thought. What is going on here? I shadowed them to the "secret area" in the training center. When they got there, I heard Quistis launch into some kind of boring soliloquy about having lost her instructor status. Oh. Typical. I made sure to leave before they did, so as to avoid being spotted. I was forced to reveal my presence, however, when I heard some one yell for help. I stepped out of the shadows and ran after Squall and Quistis, and found that a Granaldo and three Raldos had escaped and were attacking a teenage girl.

"Squall! Quisty!?" the girl looked surprised. While Squall and Quistis dealt with the Raldos, I went for the Granaldo.

"Omega Shot!" The attack vaporized the monster.

Two teenagers that looked somewhat like SeeDs appeared. "It's not safe here. Please, let's go."

"Alright." The girl replied. The two escorted her out of the training center.

Who was that? I wondered. Before Squall or Quistis could say anything to me, I left to return to the dorm. When I got there, I hung up my rifle and went to sleep.

Note: Thanks for reviewing my story. I'll try to get new chapters up as often as possible.


	3. Chapter 3: Operation Timber Liberation

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or any of the characters except James Hunter

The morning after the dance, I awoke when someone started to pound on my door. Selphie.

"Wake up! We got a mission! Looks like we're going to Timber. Meet at the front gate! Hurry!" I got up, feeling very annoyed. I'd only just returned from one mission and I was sent off on the next. I left the dorm wearing my usual outfit, black knee-high boots, black pants, black shirt, black jacket, and a black cape with crimson lining. Naturally, I was carrying my rifle.

When I got to the front gate, I spotted the entire team with the exception of Zell.

"Five more minutes," the faculty member said. Just then, Zell showed up, riding some kind of hoverboard. I looked on, slightly amused, as the board was confiscated. Typical, I thought. Just typical.

The faculty member began speaking again. "You are going to Timber to work for a resistance movement there. When you get off the train, a person will say to you 'The forests of Timber sure have changed.' To this you will reply 'But the Owls are still around.' That is the password."

The Headmaster then handed Squall some kind of magical lamp. "This is a cursed item, but it will grant great power to those who can use it." Squall accepted it and we left Garden.

"So, uhh," Zell began.

"Call me James." I said.

"So, James, why are you on this mission?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I just got back from a three-year assignment yesterday morning. I was actually hoping for some time to relax. But in case you're wondering, no, I don't think I'm along to keep an eye on you three. Might just be working R&R for me."

"Ah. Well, I guess we should get going. Train leaves soon."

When we arrived at Balamb, I made sure to stop by the local Junk Shop to get their weapons upgraded. They couldn't do anything with mine, of course, since it was made from experimental Esthar technology. The others, however, were a different story. "Here, guys. I found some rare items during my travels. Squall, here's the parts for the Lionheart gunblade. Zell, this'll net you the Ehrgeiz gloves, and these, Selphie, will create the Strange Vision nunchaku."

With that out of the way, we bought tickets and boarded the train. When it left, the others when further in, while I just leaned against a wall and dozed.

A few minutes later, however, I heard a series of thumps from the cabin reserved for SeeDs. I rushed in and found all three of them unconscious, for no apparent reason. It wasn't sleeping gas, because if it had been, I'd have collapsed as soon as I entered the room. It also wasn't a Sleep spell, because Esuna didn't have any effect. I realized that I'd simply have to wait it out, no matter how much I didn't like it.

A few minutes later, they began to stir, albeit a little shakily. Selphie spoke up once they were all on their feet. "Is anybody hurt?" she asked.

Squall looked around. "Doesn't look like."

"Might have been sleeping gas," Zell said. "Lot's of people don't like SeeD."

"It wasn't that," I countered. "If it was, I'd have conked out the moment I entered the room. Wasn't magic, either. Esuna didn't work."

"I had a nice dream." Selphie said. Then she mentioned the name Laguna. I about had heart failure.

Zell looked startled, as well. "Hey! There was a Laguna in my dream too! A Galbadian soldier, right?"

Squall delivered the most startling information yet. "Laguna, Kiros, and Ward."

"That's it!"

"What's it?"

"There's no way we can understand this," Selphie said. "Let's just concentrate on our first mission."

"She's right," I said. "We have more important things to worry about." With that, I left the room.

When we arrived in Timber, things went like clockwork... at first. As briefed, we met a young man at the station and delivered the password. When we boarded the train, however, things began to smell fishy. The resistance people looked rather amateurish, and Squall was promptly asked to wake up the remaining member of their group. I had the distinct impression that they were afraid of waking her up. As usual, I just leaned against a wall with my usual expression of mild amusement on my face. Amateurs, I thought. How typical. When Squall and the "princess" returned, she introduced herself as Rinoa Heartilly.

At the mission "briefing", I found myself less than impressed with their planning. I mean, uncoupling train cars, and running on the tops of said cars? I'd rather face a T-Rexaur armed only with kitchen knife. Still, this was our mission, and we had to follow orders. I was just as glad that all I was going to be involved in was the "negotiations". Even then, I had my doubts about their abilities. Kidnap the president? Maybe. Get him to give up Timber? Never.

When we captured the president's train car, I followed the others in. And there discovered that what we'd captured was a body double. I openly scoffed. "You fell for the old body double trick? Hate to say it, but he's right about your amateurish planning. For the moment, however, I will be content with killing this idiot. Thundaga!" A bolt of lightning killed him... I thought. Then he turned into some kind of zombified thing. Simple solution: a Phoenix Down. The thing promptly disintegrated.

Back aboard the Forest Owls' base, Watts informed us that the real Galbadian President was preparing to make a broadcast from the Timber TV Station.

"Is he stupid?" I asked. "He should know that radio signals are useless. Well, if it's a short message, it might work. But why bother?"

"Who knows? But this way, we have a good chance of capturing him for real."

"Good luck. He'll have guards, you know. And there are only five fighters here." I said.

"He always this skeptical?" Zone asked. Zell simply nodded. "Anyway, I thought SeeDs were worth several ordinary soldiers each. You telling me you can't do it?"

I bristled. "Of course not. I'm just saying that it might not be a good idea." Then I relaxed. "But it's your call. We just follow orders. You tell us to go, we go."

"Then let's go." Then he ran to a wall and doubled over. "My stomach HURTS."

"Gathering intelligence is my specialty, sir." And Watts ran off. I turned to Rinoa.

"They always do this?"

"If there's any chance of hard work, yes."

"Typical. Just typical." I shouldered my rifle and got off the train.

We got to the TV Station without incident, but then Squall managed to tick off our client, who ran off. Moments later, the TV screen came to life. After President Deling began a message about a sorceress ambassador, who should show up but Seifer. And promptly put his gunblade at Deling's throat. "Seifer! What is he doing!?" Then Quistis appeared on the screen.

She spoke. "Timber team, are you watching? You HAVE permission. I need your help!" We ran to Station.

I spoke first. "Seifer, what do think you're doing?"

"It's obvious, ain't it? What are you planning to do with this guy?"

Planning to do? That's right, he knows Rinoa. But this is still the stupidest thing he's ever done.

Zell couldn't contain his anger. "YOU STUPID IDIOT!"

"Be quiet." Squall told him.

"Instructor, I know! You're gonna take this idiot back to Garden, right?"

"Shut up! No!"

Deling looked triumphant. "I see. So you're all from Garden. Garden will be punished for this, I assure you."

Seifer looked even angrier. "Nice job, idiot. You and your stupid big mouth!" With that, he dragged Deling into a back room. The others followed him. By the time I got there, though, Seifer and Deling were gone. "Where'd they go?"

"We don't know." Squall said, answering Rinoa as well as myself. "Let's go."

We ended up staying at the house of the leader of the Forest Fox, another resistance group. During our stay, we were forced to hide on the second floor while some soldiers made an inspection, no doubt looking for us. While up there, Squall managed to annoy Rinoa again, with his usual cold manner. I stayed out of it, dozing against a wall.

When the coast was clear, we left the house and encountered a soldier, who turned out to be Watts. Following our talk with him, we got train tickets from Zone and headed for the train that would get us close to Galbadia Garden, as per Garden regulations.

Note: Please read and review.


	4. Chapter 4: Operation Sorceress Assassina...

I don't own Final Fantasy VIII, any of the characters except James Hunter, or The Legend of Dragoon

We got of at East Academy Station and headed through a forest to get to the Garden. A little way in, though, Squall, Quistis, and Selphie dropped to the ground, in much the same way as in the incident on the train. Once again, Esuna was useless, so we just waited for them to wake up.

When they did stagger to their feet, Zell asked them if it had been Laguna again. It was. Again, we decided to concentrate on our mission. We continued through the forest and quickly reached the edge. Galbadia Garden was in sight.

When we arrived, we were told to wait in a room on the second floor. I simply took a nap on one of the couches. A soldier learns to sleep when he can. I awoke to find that Squall had left the room after ranting about something. As well that I woke when I did, for the PA system told us to meet at the front gate.

After we arrived, the Garden Master, Martine, gave us our new orders.

Squall announced them. "Our mission is to... assassinate the sorceress. But these orders call for a sharpshooter. We have no one with that skill."

"We do. Kinneas! Irvine Kinneas!" A man with a rifle walked over to us. "This is Irvine Kinneas. He will be your sharpshooter."

The man greeted us. I found something oddly familiar about him, but dismissed on the basis that my last mission had taken me through this area, so it was entirely possible that I had encountered him previously. Get a haircut, buddy, I thought. I was also puzzled by the fact the he was being assigned to us at all. After all, I was a sniper myself. But Martine was continuing.

"We need to eliminate her for several reasons. First of all, with a sorceress involved, there will be no 'peace talks'. Galbadia is clearly maneuvering for world conquest. We must prevent this potential repeat of the Sorceress War. Also, she has chosen this Garden as her base. All Gardens are sovereign territory, and we have no desire to have an upstart sorceress take over Garden. All of us here would be driven out and killed. The sorceress _must_ be stopped. Failure is not an option." With that, he left. Irvine pointed at the car.

"Bang!"

"Let's go." Squall said. We headed for the train that would take us to Deling City. We were to meet with one General Caraway, leader of the Galbadian military.

Once aboard the train, I took an instant dislike to Irvine. He seemed more interested in certain members of our team than in our mission. After a few minutes of this, Quistis and I lost our tempers.

"Irvine Kinneas!" she said. "You're playing an important part in this mission! Now behave yourself!"

He started to say something, but I cut him off. "Shut up."

"But-"

"I said shut up! You're acting like an idiot, when you should be concentrating on your mission! Now shut up or get out! I'll do your part for you if I have to. I'll have you know that I'm a sniper myself. I don't know why you were even assigned to this mission. Just remember that you are _not_ indispensable. Behave like a SeeD cadet should, or leave the mission to me. Your choice." With that, I stalked to another part of the train. As I left, I heard Quistis saying one more thing to him.

"You'd better listen to him. He could do your job himself. I saw his skills in Dollet." The door closed on that remark.

We disembarked at the station in Deling City. Upon getting off an escalator, we were able to see most of the city. Rinoa spoke up.

"We're going to Caraway's place, right? Just take bus number 08."

"Exactly. You know a lot about this place." Irvine said.

Odd, I thought. She's a member of resistance group in Timber. Why would she know so much about the capital of her enemy? I tabled the matter. "Let's go."

We took the bus to Caraway's mansion, but were stopped by a guard. Squall spoke to him.

"We're here to see General Caraway. I believe he's been informed of our arrival."

"Yes, he has," the guard replied. "but he insists on testing the abilities of visitors."

"He's so skeptical of people." Rinoa said. I looked at her in surprise.

"The test is to go to the Tomb of the Unknown King. Just yesterday, a student from Garden wished to see him. This student has yet to return from the Tomb. You are to go there and search for signs of this student. You should find what you're looking for shortly after you go in. I wouldn't recommend going any farther in than you have to. It is very dangerous."

Squall turned to the rest of us. "Let's go."

"I suggest we rent a car," I said. "I'd rather not walk there and back. Besides which, the operation is tonight. We have to be back in time."

"Good idea."

Upon arrival at the Tomb, we saw two SeeD cadets fleeing. "F-Float!" one of the students yelled.

"What was that about?" I asked Squall. He just shrugged.

As the guard had said, the evidence we sought was just inside. "I.D. Number 25," I told Squall.

"Right."

"I suggest we go farther in as well,," I told the group.

"What for? You heard what the guard said." Rinoa said.

"There are rumors about a GF in here. I say we need all the help we can get."

"We'll do it." Squall said.

We moved carefully through the Tomb, endeavoring to avoid becoming lost. In one room, we encountered what we thought was a statue. Unfortunately, it wasn't. When it attacked, I dodged back, drawing a pistol, as the range was too short for the rifle. Unfortunately, the pistol didn't do much to the thing.

"That's it!" I yelled in frustration. "After this mission I'm getting a sword! The rifle's no good up close and the pistol's no good anywhere!"

I jumped back, realizing that I was doing no good. Squall rushed past, using his Limit Break on the thing.

When Squall was through with it, it simply fled.

I examined the pedestal it had been standing on. "What's this?" I picked up some kind of round, gray stone. It glowed at my touch. "Whoa!" I decided to bring it with me, though I wasn't sure why. It looked like it had the pupil of a reptile's eye in it.

We continued our search of the tomb, having concluded that statue was the Guardian Force. We found two rooms with switches to be pulled, but the last room we checked had the GF standing on a coffin.

"This time I'll beat you! Big Bro!"

"yeah."

"They crashed the tomb, p-plus they attacked me!"

"oh, really. impudent humans."

"This shorty?" Irvine sounded amused. "That's a surprise!"

"Bro, they're makin' fun of us!"

"humans. you'll learn not to mess with the brothers."

They attacked! "Renzokuken!"

"Angelo Cannon!" This from Rinoa.

"Raging Demon!"

"Bro, I lost." Sacred dropped to the ground.

"mighty ones, may we join you?" We welcomed them as allies and left the tomb.

Upon our return to Deling City, we gave the guard the number. "25," I told him.

"That's correct! Right this way, please." We followed him into the mansion. We were promptly forced to wait for half an hour. Rinoa abruptly stood up.

"Making us wait... this so like him. I'm gonna go complain." She left the room, but promptly came back. "Oh, and this is my house, so don't worry." Zell looked like he'd been punched. Moments later, the General came through the door.

"Where's Rinoa?" Squall asked.

"She has not had the training you have and may become a burden." he replied.

"You're Rinoa's father!?" Selphie exclaimed.

"I can't remember the last time she called me that."

"How about we get down to business," I said.

"All right. Follow me."

We went to the street in front of the Presidential Residence. Caraway went through the plan, telling us where the parade would be and when. We returned to his mansion to assign the team members.

"The leader and the sniper will make up the sniper team. The leader's role is vital, because if the sniper misses, it is up to the leader to make a frontal assault. Who will the leader be?" We all looked at Squall.

"I will."

"Good. That's taken care of. Now, who leads the gateway team?"

Squall looked to Quistis. "Quistis... Instructor Trepe, you will lead the gateway team."

I looked up. "I'd be best used as cover for the other teams. I can climb a tree or something and snipe anyone who gets in the way."

"All right." Caraway said. "Let's get in position."

We left the mansion and headed for the Presidential Residence. Squall and Irvine waited in front of the building, while Quistis, Zell, and Selphie entered the gateway. I surreptitiously climbed a tree and rested my rifle on a branch. Shortly after Caraway headed back to his mansion, I saw the gateway team follow him. What are they doing? They shouldn't be leaving their post. Well, I can't do anything about it, so no point in worrying about it. I went back to my sweep of the crowd, noting the positions of the soldiers mixed in with them.

When the sorceress began her speech, I paid little attention until I heard the president abruptly cut off. Wha? Then I heard his body hit roof. She killed him!? I'm sure Rinoa will be pleased. Moments later I saw the two Iguion statues on the gateway come to life and bound to the roof of the Residence. Nothing I can do now.

When the parade began, I swept my sights over the sorceress' vehicle. I nearly dropped my rifle in shock. For there, with the sorceress, was Seifer. Seifer!? I thought he was dead! They said they executed him! But even if they didn't, why is he with the sorceress? I almost fired right then and there, since Seifer's presence meant betrayal of Garden. But I restrained myself, for the mission was to kill Sorceress Edea, and the mission had to succeed.

At exactly 20:00 hours, the parade entered the gateway, and the gate slammed down. Moments later, I heard the shot...

And it was blocked. A protect spell! Knew the gateway was a bad idea. She was prepared. Well, Squall should be along any time now. Sure enough, there was Squall, charging into the fray. I dropped out of the tree and headed off to join him.

"Seifer!" I shouted.

"So, you've become the sorceress' puppet." Squall said.

"I prefer to be called her knight." He charged at Squall, slashing with his gunblade, but Squall blocked, parried, and flipped Seifer to the ground. "I... lost!?"

"Of course." I turned to the sorceress.

"A SeeD," she said, "raised in a run-down Garden." It was then that Rinoa and Irvine joined us.

The battle lasted nearly an hour, but at the end, Edea spoke again. "Impudent SeeDs!"

She raised her hand, and icicles formed above it. She motioned forward, and they flew at Squall. One of them hit him in the right side of his chest. Before I could react, I was hit in the back of the head and knocked unconscious...

Author's note: Anyone who's played The Legend of Dragoon should recognize the stone James found in the Tomb. More will be revealed in the next chapter.


End file.
